Peter. [Giving his petition] Against my master, Thomas
Horner, for saying that the Duke of York was rightful
heir to the crown.
415

Queen Margaret. What sayst thou? did the Duke of York say he was
rightful heir to the crown?

Peter. That my master was? no, forsooth: my master said
that he was, and that the king was an usurper.

Earl of Suffolk. Who is there?
420[Enter Servant]Take this fellow in, and send for
his master with a pursuivant presently: we'll hear
more of your matter before the King.

[Exit Servant with PETER]

Queen Margaret. And as for you, that love to be protected
Under the wings of our protector's grace,
Begin your suits anew, and sue to him.
[Tears the supplication]Away, base cullions! Suffolk, let them go.
430

Queen Margaret. My Lord of Suffolk, say, is this the guise,
Is this the fashion in the court of England?
Is this the government of Britain's isle,
435And this the royalty of Albion's king?
What shall King Henry be a pupil still
Under the surly Gloucester's governance?
Am I a queen in title and in style,
And must be made a subject to a duke?
440I tell thee, Pole, when in the city Tours
Thou ran'st a tilt in honour of my love
And stolest away the ladies' hearts of France,
I thought King Henry had resembled thee
In courage, courtship and proportion:
445But all his mind is bent to holiness,
To number Ave-Maries on his beads;
His champions are the prophets and apostles,
His weapons holy saws of sacred writ,
His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves
450Are brazen images of canonized saints.
I would the college of the cardinals
Would choose him pope, and carry him to Rome,
And set the triple crown upon his head:
That were a state fit for his holiness.
455

Earl of Suffolk. Madam, be patient: as I was cause
Your highness came to England, so will I
In England work your grace's full content.

Queen Margaret. Beside the haughty protector, have we Beaufort,
The imperious churchman, Somerset, Buckingham,
460And grumbling York: and not the least of these
But can do more in England than the king.

Earl of Suffolk. And he of these that can do most of all
Cannot do more in England than the Nevils:
Salisbury and Warwick are no simple peers.
465

Queen Margaret. Not all these lords do vex me half so much
As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife.
She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies,
More like an empress than Duke Humphrey's wife:
Strangers in court do take her for the queen:
470She bears a duke's revenues on her back,
And in her heart she scorns our poverty:
Shall I not live to be avenged on her?
Contemptuous base-born callet as she is,
She vaunted 'mongst her minions t'other day,
475The very train of her worst wearing gown
Was better worth than all my father's lands,
Till Suffolk gave two dukedoms for his daughter.

Earl of Suffolk. Madam, myself have limed a bush for her,
And placed a quire of such enticing birds,
480That she will light to listen to the lays,
And never mount to trouble you again.
So, let her rest: and, madam, list to me;
For I am bold to counsel you in this.
Although we fancy not the cardinal,
485Yet must we join with him and with the lords,
Till we have brought Duke Humphrey in disgrace.
As for the Duke of York, this late complaint
Will make but little for his benefit.
So, one by one, we'll weed them all at last,
490And you yourself shall steer the happy helm.
[Sound a sennet. Enter KING HENRY VI, GLOUCESTER,]CARDINAL, BUCKINGHAM, YORK, SOMERSET, SALISBURY,
WARWICK, and the DUCHESS]

Henry VI. For my part, noble lords, I care not which;
495Or Somerset or York, all's one to me.

Duke of Gloucester. Madam, the king is old enough himself
510To give his censure: these are no women's matters.

Queen Margaret. If he be old enough, what needs your grace
To be protector of his excellence?

Duke of Gloucester. Madam, I am protector of the realm;
And, at his pleasure, will resign my place.
515

Earl of Suffolk. Resign it then and leave thine insolence.
Since thou wert king—as who is king but thou?—
The commonwealth hath daily run to wreck;
The Dauphin hath prevail'd beyond the seas;
And all the peers and nobles of the realm
520Have been as bondmen to thy sovereignty.

Winchester. The commons hast thou rack'd; the clergy's bags
Are lank and lean with thy extortions.

Duke/Earl of Somerset. Thy sumptuous buildings and thy wife's attire
Have cost a mass of public treasury.
525

Duke of Buckingham. Thy cruelty in execution
Upon offenders, hath exceeded law,
And left thee to the mercy of the law.

Queen Margaret. They sale of offices and towns in France,
If they were known, as the suspect is great,
530Would make thee quickly hop without thy head.
[Exit GLOUCESTER. QUEEN MARGARET drops her fan]Give me my fan: what, minion! can ye not?
[She gives the DUCHESS a box on the ear]I cry you mercy, madam; was it you?
535

Eleanor. Was't I! yea, I it was, proud Frenchwoman:
Could I come near your beauty with my nails,
I'd set my ten commandments in your face.

Eleanor. Against her will! good king, look to't in time;
540She'll hamper thee, and dandle thee like a baby:
Though in this place most master wear no breeches,
She shall not strike Dame Eleanor unrevenged.

[Exit]

Duke of Buckingham. Lord cardinal, I will follow Eleanor,
545And listen after Humphrey, how he proceeds:
She's tickled now; her fume needs no spurs,
She'll gallop far enough to her destruction.

[Exit]

[Re-enter GLOUCESTER]

Duke of Gloucester. Now, lords, my choler being over-blown
With walking once about the quadrangle,
I come to talk of commonwealth affairs.
As for your spiteful false objections,
Prove them, and I lie open to the law:
555But God in mercy so deal with my soul,
As I in duty love my king and country!
But, to the matter that we have in hand:
I say, my sovereign, York is meetest man
To be your regent in the realm of France.
560

Earl of Suffolk. Before we make election, give me leave
To show some reason, of no little force,
That York is most unmeet of any man.

Richard Plantagenet (Duke of Gloucester). I'll tell thee, Suffolk, why I am unmeet:
First, for I cannot flatter thee in pride;
565Next, if I be appointed for the place,
My Lord of Somerset will keep me here,
Without discharge, money, or furniture,
Till France be won into the Dauphin's hands:
Last time, I danced attendance on his will
570Till Paris was besieged, famish'd, and lost.

Earl of Warwick. That can I witness; and a fouler fact
Did never traitor in the land commit.

Earl of Suffolk. Please it your majesty, this is the man
That doth accuse his master of high treason:
His words were these: that Richard, Duke of York,
Was rightful heir unto the English crown
585And that your majesty was a usurper.

Thomas Horner. An't shall please your majesty, I never said nor
thought any such matter: God is my witness, I am
falsely accused by the villain.
590

Peter. By these ten bones, my lords, he did speak them to
me in the garret one night, as we were scouring my
Lord of York's armour.

Richard Plantagenet (Duke of Gloucester). Base dunghill villain and mechanical,
I'll have thy head for this thy traitor's speech.
595I do beseech your royal majesty,
Let him have all the rigor of the law.

Thomas Horner. Alas, my lord, hang me, if ever I spake the words.
My accuser is my 'prentice; and when I did correct
him for his fault the other day, he did vow upon his
600knees he would be even with me: I have good
witness of this: therefore I beseech your majesty,
do not cast away an honest man for a villain's
accusation.

Duke of Gloucester. This doom, my lord, if I may judge:
Let Somerset be regent over the French,
Because in York this breeds suspicion:
And let these have a day appointed them
For single combat in convenient place,
610For he hath witness of his servant's malice:
This is the law, and this Duke Humphrey's doom.